Omer Belgian Blond Ale (Brouwerij Bockor)

Here's one, like Urthel Saisonnierre, that good ol' Lanny got me a bottle of, before it was available commercially in this market. I keep passing on it, day after day, thinking it's not the time, and what do you know, I find 750's for sale. So late, and so lazy am I. Here come the notes...

Omer Traditional Blond Ale,  Brewery Bockor, 8% ABV., Omer, 1892. Brewed in Belgium, refermented in the bottle.

Clear golden hue, slim white head. Looking the part. 

Aroma starts with spice and citrus. Lemon and pepper, with that added something extra funky from the Belgian yeast. 

Tasting it: As above, so below. Sparkles on the palate, delivers more fruit and more spice. Sweet malt rises high in character, easily matched by hops. Malt and yeast rush back in, and deliver that special something. 

I like this a lot, really, I do. Easily the match of many Belgian blonds and goldens. 

Bellegems Bruin

Despite illness and poor wi-fi capabilities, and not drinking as much, I'm still holding to my goal of a post, or, I should say a beer (bottlecaps don't count!) for every day of the month. Got some catching up to do. And if that means 3 posts on a Friday, so be it.

And here we have this tasty oud bruin that I just tapped last night. Tapped keg one in November, and it was part of the first Belg-a-Rama line-up. The other two kegs of the three I brought in have been waiting since then. They're doing fine, and it's Bellegems Bruin's time to shine. Now, it's on right next to it's brother, Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge Flanders Red.

So, here are my original notes from November 2010:
"On tap, from a fresh keg. Appearance, clear, dark garnet hue, deep eggplant with crimson edges, under slim, but lasting dotted beige head.

Aroma: grape, cherries, and blackberries hit the nose first, with caramel malt beneath. A rendezvous between sour and sweet, with sour taking over assuredly.

Taste: the sweet and sour tug of war begins immediately again on hitting the palate. Sour fruit commands the stage with malty brown ale flavors holding steady in the background, but plainly giving way to the dominant tart. Another sip, another wince and pucker, but the sweet factor and the comforting caramel malt backbone ease us away from any onslaught of tartitude.

Medium bodied, and long in the finish, with sweetness and sour aplenty, quenching and refreshing as the best of them.
I do love our bruins, and perhaps I prefer them to flanders reds, the jury's still out on that one. This one would make a fine every day drinking, with-food-drinking, all around enjoyable ale, with price being the only hindrance.

Glad to finally try it at last, after seeing it in my old, dusty Michael Jackson tomes of yore!"

Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge Flanders Red Ale

What does a guy have to do get a beer around here? I mean, specifically, what is so hard about landing keg after keg of an excellent Flanders Red that you know you can safely and swiftly pour to rabid aficionados? Why so difficult to get a distributor to carry a beer so successful in markets all over the U.S. of A? Long story, my friends, long, frustrating, sad and ridiculous story. Maybe I will tell it one day, but, oy, I just don't feel the need to type the words this moment.

Still in the "prove it" mode, apparently, though the last, and first time, I had a keg of this, it was done in six days. Here are my notes from that tasting, back on October 20, 2010:

"Freshly tapped keg, poured into a Jacobins snifter, different logo than the one on the new tap handle. (Might need to hold onto this collector's item?)

Deep garnet hue, dusky crimson, with a slim, slightly pinkish head, like puree of raspberry.

Aromatics leap out of the glass and run around the room. Sweet and sour dance around each other in kind of tart tarantella, raspberry, sour cherry, and grape and assorted other dark stone fruit mix it with the intoxicating otherworldly Belgian yeast funk. Little sweet, little sour, little funk, little fruit.

Taste: Here it boards the palate with pistols blazing, barrels are spilled over in a terrific melee, invaders pounce on the taste buds with ferocity. Fruit and bold tart flavors make their mark and spread deliciousness and refreshment far and wide, up and down, in and out. Medium body, adequate malt, wondrous oak effect, fantastic belgian flavor.

I could empty the dictionary in further attempts to outline the exact over-pouring of tastes encounter and experience felt upon the senses, but let us make it simple, shall we?
Sharp. Tart. Zesty. Fresh. Inviting. Refreshing. Vibrant. Puckering. Uninhibited. Un-compromised. Full expression of the Flanders Red style. Impossible to find a flaw.

Fruit flavor lingers long on the palate, finish is near interminable. Won't quit, hangs hard in the mouth, but you don't want it to leave. The berries are never gone, tartness never flags. If you can't get it sour enough, here's your beer.

This is a satisfying Red indeed, one that begs more and more consumption, if your pocketbook is fat enough.
Could be wilder, wickeder, but then it wouldn't be this. And this is fine, fine stuff.
I'm on snifter #2 as we type. This stuff is truly irresistible."